Behind Shraddha Kapoor’s first Vogue cover

Three films old, Shraddha Kapoor is fast on her way to becoming Bollywood royalty. But scant little is known about her.

Two years ago, she was at break point after lukewarm responses to her first two films, Teen Patti (2010) and Luv Ka The End (2011). For someone whose dinner table chatter was always centred on cinema — father Shakti Kapoor, brother Siddhanth and aunts Padmini and Tejaswini Kolhapure are all actors — not making it was never an option.

"Of course, I was upset… there was no backup career," she tells me, sipping black coffee. Luckily, for her, the third film, Aashiqui 2, went on to become a 100-crore hit.

Sitting cross-legged in track pants, in her family home in suburban Mumbai, she is relaxed and friendly. She's got a brief respite from back-to-back shoots — Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider starring Shahid Kapoor, The Villain with Sidharth Malhotra and a roster full of endorsements.

Fidgeting with her thick-rimmed glasses ("I'm a basic beauty girl: Cetaphil, Neutrogena and M.A.C," she tells me), she lets us in on what goes on in the life of an effervescent 26-year-old Juhu girl who now happens to be a bonafide movie star.

She had considered a career as a psychologist

Always a rebel, she remembers balking at being told she would end up in the movies. "From the time I was a child, I was told I would be an actor. Deep down I did know that too, but I was rebellious. I went to Jamnabai Narsee School, and then the American School, where my grades were really good. My parents weren't keen on me going abroad to study, but I was adamant, so I took off for Boston University. I started getting film offers on a summer break here, so I never returned. But I really enjoyed my psychology class."

She's a wide-eyed explorer

She's been on the road a great deal lately — shooting in Kashmir and Mauritius and then attending friend Nadine Dhody's wedding in Abu Dhabi. "I love playing tourist. Recently, I was in Paris and took the sightseeing bus to the Louvre, the Tuileries and Moulin Rouge, and hit the boutiques; one of my coolest finds was a Japanese manga suitcase." This city girl has quite the adventure streak — "I'm a certified Advanced Scuba Diver. My favourite holiday was spent on a dive-boat in the Maldives. I also love Ladakh, where we froze living in tents. I am both a beach and a mountain person."

She’s an online shopping addict with a flip-flop obsession

"I'm all about buying basics — tracks and tees and flip-flops, which I have in dozens. I love sites like Shopbop.com, Topshop.com, ASOS.com and Forever21.com. My big splurge after my first pay cheque was a pair of Jimmy Choos. My dream is to be dressed by Chanel."